Thursday, February 28, 2013

I cannot believe it's the last day of February. Nuts! On this last day, I'm sharing one final project using Technique Tuesday's Studio AE February stamp set. Tomorrow, Technique Tuesday will debut the March set.

This card is simple and quick to do. I was thinking that a whole set could be made with these stamps and given out as a gift. Or, really, they would be fab to keep around as good-for-every-occasion cards. We all need those!

To make this card, I used kraft paper card base, and then stamped it again and again with the same stamp using Versamark. Then I stamped it once using white ink. My favorite white ink being Clearsnap's Colorbox Pigment ink in Frost White. For those little spots that weren't quite bold enough, I filled them in with Sharpie Poster Paint in White. But the card still looked like it needed a little something-something. So I used the heart from the Totally My Type set to add one teeny, red detail. I love adding little bits like that to a project.

Thanks so much for coming by today. Don't forget to drop by the Technique Tuesday blog tomorrow to see the new set.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Long weekend for me. Nope, no hanging out at the beach this time. My middle child and his buddies participated in the LA County Science Olympiad. Lots of parental participation is required, but it's so worth it because his school team is going to the State Science Olympiad. I'm so happy, excited and proud of him. I'm far from being a tiger mom, but the Chinese in me can't help but think he'd make a great doctor? Hahahah.

I also worked on my taxes... That was not a happy inducing experience though. Sigh.

On a happier note, here are the layouts I created for Technique Tuesday using the new stamps (which are available at their online store and everywhere else.) These were at CHA, and they are all 6" x 6". This is my first time creating layouts this size, and I really like it!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Lawn Fawn is doing its monthly Inspiration Week right now, meaning, lots of prizes and ideas for projects.

I created a quick and simple layout using the new Pink Lemonade paper line. The colors are so vibrant and fun. Lots of citrus with some pink thrown in. It's the perfect foil for all the blue in my photos.

And of course this is a layout about going to the beach. Hahahah! I know, I know, I have a tough life. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll remember these from the beginning of the year. During our holiday break, I took my kids and friends to the beach just to hang out. It's so fun to see what they do when there are no video games, TVs, or toys around. They actually get creative!

To make this layout, I printed all the photos on one sheet of matte photo paper. I've really been into the matte paper lately. I use it for my Project Life, and it's super easy to stamp on. No need for alcohol inks. I also added the journaling directly to the big photo. I adhered the whole sheet of photos onto the stripey patterned paper, and then used the extra side strip of paper to make the banner in the middle. You know, those extra bits of patterned paper? One side has the name and UPC, the other is a pattern? I took three of those, glued them to a strip of cardstock, trimmed it, and attached it to my layout with some handstitching. On the top left, I tucked in a bit of another strip. On the bottom right, there's a label from the Element Stickers. The title is from the Grapefruit Pink Narrator Stickers. The date stamp is from Staples. The font is p22 Typewriter (my default typewriter font.)

Super simple!

Don't forget to drop by the Lawn Fawn blog to see more projects and to win some goodies. Thanks for coming by!

In this layout, I masked some of the typewriter font words, and used only Ali's handwritten words. Perfect for those polaroid-esque frames, which I cut using a Silhouette. The photos are just glued to the back of the cardstock frames.

And of course, there's a prize involved! It's a $25 gift certificate for you to get what you want from Technique Tuesday! Woohoo! Here's what you do: leave me a comment here, and make sure to stop by all the other blogs in the hop, and leave comments there too. The winner will be announced Feb 15th on the Technique Tuesday blog.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

I can't believe Valentine's Day is almost here. It's one of my favorite holidays, but it always catch me by surprise. I guess I'm usually still decompressing from the big holiday that is Groundhog Day...

But anyway...

Let's talk V-Day cards. Here are two Valentine's Day cards I created for Technique Tuesday.

The arrows in this one are from Teri Anderson's Awesome set. Which is: awesome. I stamped them on wood veneer (yes, again with veneer, sorry) and the love circle is from Ali Edwards' Adored set. The Adored set is one of Technique Tuesday's all time best sellers. The folks at TT get regular calls about this set. So they brought it back. Woohoo! I stamped it with Clearsnap Colorbox pigment ink, punched it out, and used a pop up dot to adhere it. The polka dot paper is Canvas Corp.

This card also uses Teri's stamps: the Puffy Hearts set. It's really the perfect Valentine's set. It has six heart designs, a handful of sentiments, and those cute buttons! Ink is by Clearsnap, and the twine is from The Twinery. The cardstock is Bazzill (they have this awesome super smooth one for cardmakers and stampers). Embossing powder is from American Crafts.

Thanks for stopping by today! Please come back on February 10th for our Studio AE blog hop. Did I mention prizes? Prizes = good things.

Monday, February 4, 2013

As you know, I'm a huge fan of Elle's Studio, so I was super happy when she asked me to create a few projects for her CHA booth. Elle debuted patterned paper this year! And it's so good. Really.

These were all created with the You & Me collection. I just love easy-crafting. Take some paper, add photos, journal in the pre-printed cards, add some pretty little tags, a bit of hand-stitching, BOOM, done. I'm pretty sure they've started to ship these to retailers. I honestly cannot wait to get more of this stuff!

I love the mix of the typewriter font with Ali's handwriting. For this layout, I stamped them in various colors, and did some hand stitching with some (kinda sorta) matching thread. It's a layout about my family's recent visit to an Orange County beach. It had a lot of tidepools, and my youngest was fascinated by them, and all the sea creatures he was finding. Usually, he wants to dig in the sand with his brothers (or swim if the water wasn't so cold). But because of these tidepools, he chose to explore the beach with me. WITH ME! Woohoo!

Thanks for visiting today! The Technique Tuesday team will be doing a blog hop on the 10th. So don't forget to come back. Have a great weekend.

It's Valentine's week over at the Lawn Fawn blog. Here's my super simple project, that could be easily reproduced, so you can spread the love!

I used the new stamp set from Pink Lemonade (the jar, the solid heart, and the label). The happy face heart is from Critters Ever After. The heart with arrow is from My Silly Valentine. The "I love you" sentiment is from Love n Breakfast, and the Happy Valentine's is from Happy Everything. The twine is Lawn Trimmings. Ink is all Clearsnap Colorbox Pigment Ink, except for black which is Tsukineko Versafine (my favorite black ink). The patterned paper is from Canvas Corp (which, by the way, is a really nice heavy weight). I stamped the label on regular printer paper so it was a little translucent.